


For Curiosity's Sake

by katinhats



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Canon Era, Developing Relationship, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:20:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28743114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katinhats/pseuds/katinhats
Summary: The priestess that travels with his brother has caught Sesshomaru's attention, and he intends to discover why.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Sesshoumaru
Kudos: 79





	1. The Girl

He couldn’t really say how the fascination had begun; only that it had. Nor could he say that it was truly a fascination, until it bordered on obsession. Now, it seemed too late to change this distasteful situation. 

Mentally, he snarled. This mess was so terribly unlike him. How had he become so exceptionally unobservant? 

Could it be that he, the Lord of the West, had grown arrogant and therefore blind? He was known for thinking of every possible outcome in battle, both of mental and physical natures, and yet it seemed a possibility that he may have overlooked something. This girl, this odd woman-child, had been written off as a being of little consequence. 

Yet here he stood, atop a cliff, watching her patchwork group travel across a field below. He could hear the laughter and carrying on emitted from the travelers; the indignation as a joke was made at the monk’s expense. 

A short time ago, he’d begun to study the enigmatic priestess. The clothes she wore, though he’d commented on them and her apparent profession, spoke of many things. The fact that they were always in good repair hinted that she did not share the generally accepted ideas on bathing as the rest of the humans in the area. A foreigner, perhaps? It seemed unlikely; she spoke easily and fluently, and carried many of the physical attributes of the natives. Her hair seemed to be of similar texture, though better cared for. 

She spoke and argued as though well educated, yet she was undoubtedly female. Even in royal circles, females are educated just enough to avoid embarrassment, and under no circumstances argued as an equal to a male. 

The other things he had observed were more abstract, though no less important. She drew humans and demons alike to her. With a fierce sense of loyalty and warm smiles, every last one of the beings who came to know her, fell under her spell. Dove may be a more appropriate word, as all but Inu-Yasha had gone willingly and headlong into her embrace. 

Even from his perch, he could feel the power that she radiated. The power had such a unique feel to it; warm, inviting. At first, he’d assumed that she was nearly as powerful as he. A weighty thought, indeed. Though, he’d decided that she wasn’t; that it was her soul that he felt. Her soul, according to snippets of conversation he’d heard, was abnormally large. That it hadn’t fit in Kanna’s mirror. 

The small group was nearly at the base of his cliff. The kit jumped off of the girl’s shoulder, and flopped onto the grass, grateful to be out of the mid-summer sun. Each set about doing a task or two to prepare the midday meal. The monk walked to the river, and returned carrying water in one of the girl’s metal cooking pots. Without breaking stride or drawing attention to himself, the monk looked up to where Sesshomaru was standing on the cliff. 

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes slightly, irritated at being caught. The monk simply nodded in greeting and brought the water to the girls who were breaking out some vegetables and noodles. 

He turned and left. How? How had this human noticed him? He’d masked both aura and scent, no small feat with another dog demon, if only half, two holy people, and one who hunted demons.


	2. The Well

It had been a while ago that he’d noticed the girl’s aura vanished altogether periodically. Not simply slipping away as one would expect when the target moves away, but disappeared. His attention was drawn as he passed near the village that served as the group’s base. He heard the high-pitched shrieks of the girl directed at his half-brother, and Inu-Yasha’s gruff replies.

About to continue on his way, Sesshomaru stopped dead in his tracks as the presence of the girl vanished. He whipped around and headed in the direction he last felt her in, immensely curious. No one moved that fast, not even he. 

Staying downwind, Sesshomaru stalked around the clearing that his brother was stomping away from. When Inu-Yasha had gone, Sesshomaru stepped into the clearing, scenting for the girl, for curiosity’s sake. Had she the ability to teleport? A spell, perhaps?

He stopped as he reached a battered and decrepit old well. Her scent was present, though it ended there. He studied the well, not seeing or sensing anything of interest. Irritated at the puzzle before him, he left the clearing, but patrolled the area for a day or so, poring over the implications. She could be a powerful ally. Or enemy.

Her presence popped up again a couple of days later. He made his way over to where it was emanating from to find her striding across the same meadow with a huge, odd-looking bag slung over her shoulders. Inu-Yasha arrived shortly and took her bag, walking at her side and griping that she’d been away too long.

Where had she gone? And how was it that his mongrel brother knew enough to be comfortable with her utter disappearance?

The wind picked up and blew her scent towards him. It carried many things that he had never encountered, quite a few burning at his nose.

Where had she gone, indeed.

He strode away, deciding to leave further investigation for a later time, so as to remain entirely unnoticed. He continued to monitor her disappearances, stretching his senses to feel for her. The girl never left for more than a few days, but did so frequently. As the winter worsened, she left for longer periods and then stayed, uninterrupted for two weeks.

As he crossed paths with her group, he sometimes caught snippets of conversation regarding strange things. The hanyo carried some of the same scents as she, on occasion.

His curiosity grew. The hanyo went with her! Sesshomaru's pride rankled at the idea that the half-breed could know _anything_ that the elder brother did not, even something so trivial as the girl’s travel methods and destination. He decided to remedy this and keep closer watch on them.

After all, they were in his territory much of the time. He had to study all possible threats to his lands.

For some time he kept notes, as it were, on the group. He watched them grow as fighters from familiar to truly cohesive; the girl progressed exponentially. She seemed not to have come from any place like the slayer that trained women to fight, yet she possessed none of the fear characteristic of the human women of the area. She faced each battle, regardless of size, with bravery and honor. When humans became involved, she stood by them, ensuring their safety.

She faced his half-brother when his animalistic side held sway, showing only fear for his safety, and none for her own. She had even faced himself without flinching or cowering.

All of this, and she would still shriek at the sight of insects. How very odd.

The girl seemed to be the heart of the band. When she disappeared to wherever it was that she went, the group became listless. Inu-Yasha bristled more, and the kit moped. Sesshomaru followed Inu-Yasha at a distance one day, as he said he would go and fetch the girl.

Sesshomaru watched at the edge of the clearing as the hanyo jumped straight into the old well. His eyes widened in shock as the well emitted a burst of power and blue light. The half-breed’s aura vanished, and no scent was present inside the well. He stood by and watched, transfixed on the well.

Not much time passed before the hanyo jumped out with the girl and her strange bag draped over his back. She was prattling on about something called ‘Cram School’ and its difficulties. Inu-Yasha motioned for her to stop as he scented the air.

Sesshomaru froze. Had the mongrel found him out? Before he heard the end of their conversation, Sesshomaru turned and left. At least his theory of the girl being educated proved correct.

In the back of his mind, he noticed that she bore the scent of fruits and flowers, much as she had the last time he had seem her return from her home. She bathed more than the villagers, that was certain, so while she never carried their scent of sweat and dirt neither did she smell as sweet as when she came from the other side of the well.


	3. The Bear

“Inu-Yasha, we _have_ to go! _You_ have to go! You’re their only hope for finding the demon!” the slayer shouted in his face, backing him up a step. How pathetic that his half-brother be intimidated by a human; even a slayer.

“I can’t go!” he shouted back. Then, softer, “I have to wait here for her to get back.” He did not meet his companions’ eyes as he said this.

The monk looked thoughtful for a moment. “Kagome would want us to help them. This is the village you and she left Nizuna in. Kagome said she will not return for another two days; she won’t mind if you leave Edo for a short while.” The hanyo agreed after much grumbling and Sesshomaru watched as they set off to fight the demon.

He’d been away from his post of keeping loose track of the young priestess for longer than expected. Unintentionally, they had crossed, regardless. Rin had been kidnapped as part of the vile Naraku’s twisted designs. In retrospect, perhaps he, the Lord of the West, had been arrogant.

He almost smiled, remembering his musings overlooking the girl’s group those few months ago. His ward, having come into the picture between now and then, had caused him to grow significantly, yet imperceptibly. Her first smile and open acceptance had meant much, though he remained loath to admit it. Yet the sight of his ward cradled in the arms of the Priestess had tightened his chest in an unfamiliar way.

The woman-child had cared for Rin, and then as she followed as he left, the girl had let them. She had not reacted in the way other humans had at the sight of a young child traveling with an obvious demon, and tried to take her. This Kagome had let her follow at his side. Neither had she seemed outraged as they had.

In his study, Sesshomaru had observed a level of kindness and loyalty unseen in even the highest of priestesses, much less humans on the whole. Knowing this, the realization that she cared for the child without minding the child’s chosen company still set him on his heels.

He turned and left, heading back to his retainer and ward. Her aura suddenly popped into his mind. As suddenly as he noticed her, so too did he notice a demonic presence filled with malice and hunger nearby. He felt her move in the direction and the demon followed.

A bear demon lurked in the shadows of the forest, preparing to strike and devour its prey. Sesshomaru slashed at its throat, poison dripping from his claws. It dodged and snarled at its new target. Growling low, it lunged. Sesshomaru chuckled once as he lashed out with his whip to the beasts throat. This time, he connected and the demon’s blood came pulsing out.

“You stain the forest, mongrel.” 

The bear snarled again. “The great Sesshomaru, protector of humans. You have a young girl, and now you seek to have a priestess? You are truly your father’s son!” It laughed.

Sesshomaru’s eyes narrowed at the statement. He moved to the bear, his hand shooting out to its damaged neck. He dug his claws into the wound, releasing his poison once more. “Speak not of things you do not know.”

Flexing his claws, the bears head was relieved of its body. Sesshomaru coated the pieces in poison, effectively ridding the area of the filth. Satisfied that the only hint of evidence was the scorched earth where the beast had been, he turned and left.


	4. The Beginning

“Lord Sessh- _o_ -ma- _ru_. Are you lis—Hey!!” Rin shouted at Jaken’s swat on her head.

“Quiet, girl! Our lord is deep in thought!” the imp squawked at her. “No doubt wondering why he saved you to begin with, useless wretch,” he finished in a mumble.

_Fool. As if I couldn’t hear that._ “Jaken.”

“ _Awwk!_ Uhh—Yes, milord? What can your humble servant do for you? I’d be delighted to—”

“Jaken.” He squawked again, but went silent. “Take Rin to find food. I wish to be alone.” The toad bowed several times, and left with the girl in tow.

_What malady has come over me? I saved the priestess, but why? What drove me to play guardian this day?_

_But more importantly, why do I not regret my actions?_

He mused over their few encounters and her reactions to him, noting that the only fear she seemed to feel was never for herself, but for others. He weighed what he had observed in the last several weeks against both his perceptions of humans on the whole and what he'd thought of her as of before several weeks ago. In his mind's eye, Sesshomaru replayed his memories of the girl; he watched her fight himself and other demons, he watched her cry and laugh, he watched her fuss over the well-being of her friends and anyone else that came along.

He watched some memories more than once, like in his father's bones, the expression she wore as she looked into his eyes before he'd tried to kill her with his poison. And just before that as she threatened to cut him. The thought almost brought a smile to his lips; she was so like a puppy, this girl, baring her little fangs and thinking herself fierce.

Or perhaps not. Perhaps it was an action sprung of a necessary practicality, one incongruous with the rest of her pure and gentle nature. A mental note was added that she had a solid, hardened core underneath the sunny disposition. The more he thought of her in this newer light, the more he noticed the determination and a reckless selflessness in their encounters and his observations. In this, he also recognized her apparent need to feel useful beyond her ability to locate the shards of the Shikon no Tama; her archery had drastically improved as she practiced as often as possible, and more than once, he had felt her aura flare and recede as the monk helped her sharpen her holy powers.

Sesshomaru gazed at the horizon, and lost himself to thought until his ward and retainer returned. Rin ran up to him, smiling as wide as ever, a bunch of flowers clutched in her hand. She offered them up to him.

“You seemed a little sad, Lord Sesshomaru, so I picked some flowers for you,” she beamed at him as he took the flowers.

“Thank you, Rin,” he said, and smiled ever-so-slightly at her. He watched her skip away and flop onto a patch of soft grass to prepare the rabbit she’d returned with. He watched as she deftly skinned and gutted the small beast, getting only a small amount of blood on the skin and fur. He knew she saved the skins and would work them into mittens and other simple things to sell in villages they passed. She was quick, resourceful and intelligent, inspiring no small amount of pride in the great demon. She spitted the rabbit and set it over her fire. She stared into the fire for a moment, lost in the hypnotizing dance of the flames.

Sesshomaru shifted a little, drawing her attention. He met her eyes, but they were not the eyes of his ward, but the young priestess, smiling back at him. He gave himself a mental shake and looked again into the eyes of the human child under his care. Of course it wasn’t the priestess. She was with her companions just now, a little under half a day’s travel away.

“Hn.” Sesshomaru gazed off into the distance once more.


End file.
